'Porsche empty-handed again; Aston Martin also chose other option'

The chances of us seeing Porsche in Formula 1 from 2026 are dwindling by the day. Auto, Motor und Sport writes that the German marque held talks with Aston Martin, but Lawrence Stroll's team, as is well known, opted for a partnership with Honda. Porsche seems to be a bit 'out of options' at the moment.

The desire of the Volkswagen Group (the parent company) is hoping to make the step into the king class of motorsport with Porsche, but it is not really getting off the ground as yet. A deal with Red Bull Racing seemed to be in the making, but folded due to wrangling over how the team's shares should be divided. This was followed by talks with Williams and then McLaren, but these too came to nothing.

The fourth option was talks with Aston Martin. Indeed, the British formation would like to become a factory team in order to fulfil its desire to become world champion. There was talk by both parties of a deal in which Porsche would also acquire a stake in Aston Martin's car division. However, Aston Martin had a second iron in the fire with Honda.

Honda wins the battle

Aston Martin wanted clarity quickly, but according to the aforementioned German medium, the Volkswagen Group board did not and could not make a hasty decision. In the end, a deal was struck with Honda. Not only because they were able to tie the knot earlier, but also because Honda already currently builds one of the best F1 engines and they have no further demands regarding taking over shares.

Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine are already factory teams, so they will have no ears for a partnership with Porsche anyway. AlphaTauri, previously rumoured to be in the sale, Sauber (still Alfa Romeo Racing until the end of this season) and Haas F1 are thus the only three remaining candidates for Porsche. But whether they see themselves as such?